Living the Dragon Life

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

LIVING THE DRAGON LIFE
Last week was “Be Kind to Animals Week” and our reaction at Port Discover was “isn’t that every week?” Humans have been known to go to extremes to make an animal happy. My case in point is Angus, the fifteen-inch bearded dragon, who now lives at Port Discover.

When the brownish-orange Australian native arrived at the science center, preparations escalated to make him contented in his new atmosphere. Research began as to what a proper Australian name would be, favorite diet items, habitat needs, personality traits, compatibility, and temperature requirements.

Soon, plans evolved for the construction of a palatial habitat fit for a dragon. With the help of the world’s best volunteers, one of the front display windows at the center was transformed into a little piece of pseudo-Australian heaven in which Angus would live.

A floor of sand and rocks, greenery, heating lamps, and special warming areas were all assembled to meet his every need. There’s even been talk of a pool for wading. Angus is an inland bearded dragon whose relatives lived in the arid woodlands and deserts of central Australia. His Port Discover habitat now has the long tree branches and rocks that he would have enjoyed basking on in his native land.

Angus spends his days catching crickets, munching on greens from the Kid’s Grow Garden, and going on field trips with the Port Discover educators to Albemarle area classrooms . He also makes public appearances at special events like the Saturday Farmers’ Market. Several days a week, he takes a stroll in the garden and swims in his own pool.

A harness was purchased for use during his outings, but when the leash was attached, we saw his “beard” and his spiky scales suddenly extend to full capacity in his attempt to show his displeasure. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that snakes along with birds and crocodiles are his natural enemies, so he might have mistaken the leash for and opponent.

Some visitors have suggested that Angus might need a friend to share his life. Since male bearded dragons are territorial, that might be a poor choice, and a female friend might mean babies eventually. For now, he seems quite happy with being the single king of his domain.

Our new pet has attracted a lot of attention from humans of all types. Kids come just to see how he’s doing and ask that he be taken out so they can pet him. Adult passers-by often stop to watch him, talk with him, and comment on his activities. It’s rather amusing to see an adult talking to a lizard on Main Street. His regular visitors delight in finding where he’s hiding or how high he’s perched on a branch.

Pets add a richness to our lives that can only be experienced by establishing a relationship between human and animal. Angus and the women at Port Discover who love him know that well.

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Go Outside and Play!

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

Go Outside and Play!
Not too many years ago, mothers frequently commanded their children to “Go outside and play! It’s a beautiful day.” It was both a defense and a blessing from a parent made weary from the chaos created by kids playing in the house.

September 24 begins “Take a Child Outside Week” in North Carolina, and is celebrated both nationally and internationally. Sometimes called “Leave No Child Inside Week,” the event is part of a movement that picked-up speed with the publication of the book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv in 2005.

In 2008, Mr. Louv won the Audubon Medal for energizing “the national debate on the importance of connecting kids to nature.” Other recipients of that award have included Rachel Carson, Robert Redford, Jimmy Carter, and E. O. Wilson.

Perhaps Mr. Louv’s most startling proclamation is that he believes that we must start a movement to save our children from what he calls a “nature-deficit disorder.” He also suggests that many of the increases that we see in childhood obesity, attention difficulties, and even depression may be the result of an increasing lack of children’s direct contact with nature on a regular and frequent basis.

He writes that while our children’s worlds are “limitless in cyberspace” they are “shrinking in reality.” The world’s fixation on such fear of child endangerment caused by people, animals, and other things possibly lurking in the woods has had the effect of scaring kids right out of the woods and fields.

Studies have been done that prove that symptoms of attention-deficit disorder are reduced when the child spends more time engaging freely with nature. In addition, schools that use outdoor classrooms and other techniques to get kids outside seem to see improved test scores and an increase in the students’ ability to problem-solve.

Parents and teachers often sense the importance of children’s need to experience nature’s wonders, but they name many obstacles in the modern world that don’t support the effort. Lack of access to natural areas, too much homework, extra-curricular involvement, and competition from computers and television are some of the problems experienced when trying to get the kids outside.

Our area provides endless opportunities year-round for experiencing nature. We need only to take advantage of them, but it does take some effort on our part. Port Discover has developed a scavenger hunt to be completed in the Kid’s Grow Garden behind the center.

On October 20, 2012 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm you can attend Dismal Day at the Dismal Swamp State Park and participate in a Family Fun Run/Walk. There will also be pontoon rides, creepy crawly critter crafts, and many other outdoor activities.

Use next week as your opportunity to start making spending time in nature with your family a permanent focus. As Mr. Louv asks, “if the disconnection between children and nature continues, who will become the future stewards of the earth...?”
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Knowing Too Much

By: Judi Stuart
Port Discover - Visitor Services Manager

Knowing Too MuchSometimes it’s better that we don’t know. Last month, while keeping up with current events, I learned too much.

Charlie Naysmith was taking a walk with his father on the southern coast of Great Britain. Instead of walking by a large brownish- yellow rock, he picked it up to examine it. Now, he’s going to be $63,000 richer.

The curious eight year old found a piece of ambergris, which has a odor of its own and is sometimes used in expensive perfumes to prolong the scent. What’s really amazing about the substance, which is literally worth its weight in gold, is its origin.

Ambergris is produced in the intestines of sperm whale to protect them from the beaks of the squid that they often digest. Later, the whale vomits or poops out the excess, which then hardens and seasons, as it eventually floats to the shore.

Selling ambergris has been illegal in the United States since 1972 when the sperm whale became an endangered species. In New Zealand, it washes up on shore, and gangs control the territory, so that they can sell the substance and make a huge profit for themselves.

Author Herman Melville wrote an entire chapter in Moby Dick about how “fine ladies and gentleman...regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.” Recently a 200-year-old fragrance used by Marie Antoinette was replicated using ambergris. It sold for $11,000 a bottle.

The ingredients found in some cosmetics are often, shall we say, unusual.

Lanolin, which is found in many lipsticks, shaving creams, skin creams, shampoos, and make-up removers comes from animal fur or hair. It is the sebum that is made from wax and the remains of dead fat-producing cells.

Squalene can be obtained by squeezing shark livers and is used in facial moisturizers, lipbalm, sunscreen, eye make-up, lipstick, and bath oils. When used, it is easily absorbed into the skin and combined with other oils. Wheat germ oil and olive oil are replacing squalene in many products.

Dead algae or diatomaceous earth is used in some acne treatments, facial cleansers, and exfoliates. You would recognize it as the slimy film on fish tanks. Cholesterol from animals is found in anti-aging and many other creams.

Guanine is formed by processing the scraped off scales of dead fish and then suspending them in alcohol. The result is a pearl essence that gives the iridescent quality to some cosmetics such as finger nail polish.

Other startling substances used in beauty treatments around the world include nightingale droppings, snail secretions, cochineal beetles, placenta creams, cow dung, and snake venom.

After all my research, I am left with the question—what kind of person first decided to rub nightingale droppings on her face or picked up that ambergris rock and smelled it? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I’ll be reading the labels from now on.
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